Jihad in Portland Oregon

The case against a group of Islamic terrorists in Portland, Oregon is wrapping up, and some intriguing details have come to light. (Thanks to LGF.)

The terrorists, notably American Muslims Jeffrey Leon Battle and Patrice Lumumba Ford, were captured on tape. “The conversations ranged from inquiries about bomb making, to talk of cutting the heads off nonbelievers, to a desire to have ‘real’ Muslim wives who would be willing to carry AK-47 assault rifles and be ‘ready to run and blow something up.’

“All six of the suspects in custody have pleaded guilty . . . Prosecutors filed the 23-page memorandum Wednesday that reveals new details about the group that traveled to China in the fall of 2001 in a failed attempt to enter Afghanistan to fight against U.S. troops.”

Why did they go? “Their attorneys have said that their trip was motivated by their religious beliefs that they would have been coming to the aid of fellow Muslims.

“Yet, according to the prosecutor’s filing, Battle asked about making a bomb in September 2002, after a series of conversations in which he spoke of his consideration and ultimate rejection of committing a terrorist act in the United States.

“He had said he wanted to kill hundreds of Jews at a Portland-area synagogue or Jewish school.

“In other details revealed in the filing, the group that has come to be known as the Portland Seven – for the seven people indicted in the case – called itself ‘Katibat Al-Mawt,’ which federal prosecutors say loosely translates to ‘Squad of Death.'”

That’s an accurate translation.

“One Portland Seven member, Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, had such disdain for Jews that he referred to them as ‘lampshades,’ the document states.

“Battle told the informant that he wanted a ‘blade’ to cut off the heads of ‘kaffirs,’ or unbelievers.”

Might Battle have been reading his Qur’an? “I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them” (Sura 8:12). Maybe he was a moderate, since he didn’t seem to mention anything about cutting off fingertips as well as heads.

“Ford said he wanted to marry a ‘real’ Muslim – not a ‘fake’ American one – who carries an AK-47 assault rifle and is ‘ready to run and blow something up.'”

A real Muslim blows things up? Rauf Denktas, call your office. Jihad terrorism will not vanish from the earth until men like Ford are convinced that a “real” Muslim doesn’t actually blow anything up. Where are the efforts by moderate Muslims to convince radicals that their Islam is not real Islam?

“When Battle was arrested on Oct. 4, 2002, he initially claimed the overseas trip was for religious education, but eventually told investigators with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force about the plot, naming everyone except Maher ‘Mike’ Hawash. . . . Both Battle and Ford agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to levy war against the United States but have not cooperated with the government’s ongoing investigation into others who may have helped organize and finance the trip.”